Nowadays, it’s quite common to see kids more accustomed to iPad apps than TV shows. Thus, many established brands have been trying to bring their intellectual properties to the platform by developing various apps. At the same time, the App Store has more or less leveled the playing field for new brands to compete in this space.

Today I will share about an original series involving a brand new set of characters entitled Pan: The Fearless Beribolt. It is the first of several episodes that are planned to be released every three months. The second storybook app is planned for release in the first week of October.

Pan: The Fearless Beribolt is an original tale about a fearless panda on a quest to find her missing parents

Pan: The Fearless Beribolt

Pandora is a brave young panda who lives in the clouds as a part of the Beribolt tribe. She has many friends that would play with her everyday. Sometimes they even travel outside of Cloud City into the surrounding places. Because of her brave and curious nature, Pandora often causes a lot of problems when they travel, even when her grandparent Elder Ojo accompanies them.

Each time Pandora makes a mistake, Elder Ojo would ask her to perform a task as a form of punishment. She could be asked to wake up early in the morning to anchor the clouds, or to apologize to the other pandas for causing fire in the bazaar. Yet, Pandora understands that Elder Ojo loves her and wants her to learn from her mistakes.

Elder Ojo often tells stories to Pandora and other junior pandas whenever there’s a full moon, which comes once every three years for the Beribolts. He would also train Pandora to use the boomerang to dissolve nearby clouds. It looks like the Beribolts use the boomerangs as their main self-defense weapons.

Pandora has been staying with her grandparents ever since she can remember. In fact, not long after she was born, her parents were sent off by the tribe to find out why the clouds were changing and they never returned. No one knows where Pandora’s parents are until one day Pandora accidentally finds a boomerang on the shelves in her house.

As soon as she recognizes it as her parents’ boomerang, she’s determined to find out where her parents are. She believes that her parents are still alive. Yet, instead of waiting for them to come home, she decides to go on an adventure to find them even when Elder Ojo strictly forbids her.

Parents Need to Know

The story of Pandora in this app is just the beginning. This first episode is meant for the readers to get to know the characters. In addition to Pandora and Elder Ojo, you will meet Pandora’s friends Phil and Hank, and the Capitol Bug, who provides hints where you can find more interactivity on each screen.

The developers plan to introduce new characters gradually in future episodes. They hope that this first episode would intrigue juniors to learn all they can about each character. In a recent interview, the developers confirmed that they really want the background story for each character to really excel:

"Ultimately what stuck with the kids about the toys was the story behind each character" - Suzanne Xie, Hullabalu CEO

The app also includes mini games such as boomerang training, in which you throw boomerang at moving clouds to dissolve them. You can also find a Pandagram Photo Booth where your juniors can take photographs with Pandora in various poses and frames.

The app also contains mini games, like using boomerangs to dissolve clouds

Things I Like

This storybook app has plenty of interactivity on every page. I’d recommend you to find all the hidden surprises before moving on to the next page. You can use the Capitol Bug as your indicator. If you see her flying through the next page button, it means you have already found all the hidden surprises on that page.

Another surprise that I really like is the trailer for the second episode of the series. As you read the first episode to completion, you will find a big red stone at the ending page. Tap on that stone to watch the trailer of Book Two. It’s an awesome way to keep the fans interested on the next episode.

The app is the first in an original series made for the iPad

Conclusion

Pan: The Fearless Beribolt is a high quality storybook app with an excellent set of new characters. It’s quite easy to dismiss it as just another storybook, but once you learn about the background story for each character you’d appreciate how far the developers have envisioned the entire storyline. I can’t wait to explore their universe, visit new places, and tag along Pandora on her next adventure.

Pan: The Fearless Beribolt is available for iPhone/iPad
Get it on the App Store: iPhone | iPad